Jim Boeheim was right there in the arena when it happened.

The Syracuse head coach watched as junior sharpshooter Andy Rautins, playing for Canada in the FIBA Tournament of the Americas in Las Vegas on Aug. 22, crumpled to the ground moments after making a cut guarding Phoenix Suns guard Leandro Barbosa.

Rautins’ left anterior cruciate ligament was severed, his season over. And not too far away, Boeheim was left to contemplate what the loss of his best returning shooter meant to his team.

With the graduation of Demetris Nichols and now the injury to Rautins, a noticeable void was carved into the team’s 3-point production. Together, Nichols and Rautins combined for 65 percent of Syracuse’s treys last season. Add in Matt Gorman’s modest supplement, and the Orange has lost just under 70 percent of its 3s from 2006-07.

The pressure will fall mostly to junior shooting guard Eric Devendorf and the Syracuse freshmen to provide enough support from beyond the arc to keep the SU offense balanced.

‘That hurt us right there,’ Devendorf said of Rautins’ injury. ‘Andy is one of the top players on the team and obviously one of the top shooters in the country, so that hurts us, but we’ve got to keep going.’

For his part, Boeheim didn’t seem too worried about the team’s 3-point shooting. In a phone interview last month, Boeheim said he wasn’t concerned about his team’s shooting ability for the upcoming season, citing Devendorf and freshmen Jonny Flynn and Donte Greene as more than capable shooters.

At the team’s media day Friday, Boeheim echoed that same sentiment.

‘I think we have guys that can make shots,’ Boeheim said. ‘I’m not that concerned. Obviously, it hurts to lose a shooter of Andy’s capabilities, there’s no question about that, but I think we’ve got guys that can shoot the basketball.’

Despite Boeheim’s optimism, the injury is a significant loss to a team that relied heavily on the 3-point shot during the Big East schedule last year. During the course of 16 Big East games, SU made an average of 7.6 3-pointers a game, tied with Louisville for third most in the conference behind West Virginia and Notre Dame. In large part thanks to that percentage, the Orange ranked third in the conference in scoring per game during that span, averaging 71.9 points per game.

The injury interrupts what had been a positive summer for Rautins, who appeared poised to take on a greater role after starting 20 of 35 games last year for SU and averaging 7.2 points per game. Rautins was Canada’s leading scorer in the Pan-American games this summer, and in an interview days after the injury, his father and Canada head coach Leo Rautins praised his son’s summer performance and described him as a ‘glue-player’ for the Canadian squad.

Even though he won’t be playing for the Orange in 2007-08, Rautins was in uniform at the team’s media day Friday.

‘I’ll be in there in practice for those guys,’ Rautins said. ‘I’m just looking to be the guy that’s there for advice and little things that can help their games.’

Recruit Jones to announce decision today

Peekskill (N.Y.) High School senior Mookie Jones has scheduled a press conference for 3:15 p.m. today to announce his college choice, Peekskill head coach Lou Panzanaro confirmed in a phone interview Monday night.

Syracuse is widely assumed to be the favorite to land the 6-foot-7 Jones, ranked as the 13th-best small forward in the nation by Scout.com. Boeheim spoke at a team dinner for Peekskill and Panzanaro said SU assistant coach Mike Hopkins has made so many visits he felt like Hopkins ‘was part of the Peekskill family.’

‘From the time this whole thing started, there’s been a few schools that have been among the favorites,’ Panzanaro said. ‘I don’t think some have been as visible as others, but Syracuse certainly was the most visible. … I think when we met to narrow down Mookie’s choices a few weeks ago, Syracuse became the favorite.’

Jones made his official visit to Syracuse this past weekend, taking in the team’s media day and first practice.

‘He called me from there on Saturday and said he was extremely impressed,’ Panzanaro said. ‘He said, ‘I just feel very comfortable. This is a place I want to be.”

In choosing to declare his decision, Jones is forgoing scheduled visits to Rutgers and St. John’s. He has already made official stops at DePaul and Marquette.

Panzanaro said that Jones was going to ‘sleep on it’ for one more night before calling the respective coaches of the five finalists to alert them of his decision. Then, he will announce his decision at a press conference in the Peekskill school library.

Should Jones commit, he will be the third member of this year’s recruiting class to commit, joining Archbishop Carroll (D.C.) High School’s Kris Joseph and Notre Dame Prep’s (Mass.) James Southerland, both of whom are also small forwards.

Published on October 15, 2007 at 12:00 pm